Chennai through to IPL decider
June 1st 2008 03:40
Chennai Super Kings romped into the final of the Indian Premier League, thrashing Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in the second semi-final on Saturday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team advanced to Sunday's summit clash with the Rajasthan Royals after a determined and disciplined effort saw them past Kings XI with some ease.
Chennai's speedsters set up the victory, reducing Punjab's famed batting line-up to 112 for eight, before Parthiv Patel (51 not out) and Suresh Raina (55 not out) saw them home with more than five overs to spare.
Dhoni handed Muttiah Muralitharan the new ball, but it was Makhaya Ntini who struck the first blow when he induced an edge from the bat of James Hopes (two), in the second over. It was the beginning of a dramatic slide for the Kings XI.
Manpreet Gony resumed his place opposite Ntini at the top of the bowling order after Murali's first over proved expensive and immediately struck, getting rid of the dangerous Kumar Sangakkara cheaply. Yuvraj Singh came and went quickly and Shaun Marsh, the tournament's leading run scorer, played on to a delivery from Ntini leaving Punjab XI's batting order in tatters.
Significantly, it was the portly off-spinner Ramesh Powar who top-scored for Kings XI. He added a touch of respectability to the Punjab King's XI total by smashing a 21-ball 28. He flayed Lakshmipathy Balaji for three consecutive boundaries in the final over of the innings to get his team past the 100-run mark.
The absence of Stephen Fleming, who has returned home for the birth of his child, left Chennai looking decidedly brittle at the top, but the 113-run target - less than a run a ball from the start - never had the Super Kings under any sort of pressure.
Fleming's replacement at the top, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (six) departed early but Patel and Raina batted with poise as they calmly overhauled the target.
Patel flicked a Pathan delivery through mid-wicket to bring up his second half-century of the tournament, while Raina, who had hit a couple of big sixes, reached his with a boundary off Piyush Chawla.
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